Tool Review - Hart Designs DFK1200 12" Dovetail Machine

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The measure of a carpenter has always been the quality of his joinery. Without question, the most celebrated and revered of all woodworking joints is the dovetail. Most of us don't have the time or the patients to learn and perfect the art of hand cutting dovetails. But, with this jig, a good router, and a little practice, anyone can make perfect professional looking dovetail joints.

The Hart Designs dovetail machine achieves its outstanding results through simplicity and affordability. There are many dovetail jigs on the market and you could probably get good quality joints with any of them. Most of them, however, are complicated to use and expensive to to obtain. The Hart Designs jig is very affordable (around $130 to get started) and very simple to use. Once the intial setup is complete, just insert your drawer (or box) front in the top clamp of the jig, insert you drawer side in the front clamp, and start cutting. I know that sounds over simplified, but once you get the hang of using the jig, that's really all there is to it. To speed up and simplify the process, you cut both the tails and pins at the same time, so you get perfect alignment automatically. If you're adventurous, you can use the jig to cut rabbeted dovetails and box joints too. The standard dovetail machine comes with a 1/2" dovetailing template. Other templates are available for 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" dovetails and box joints.

Now I won't lie to you, the dovetail machine isn't perfect or infallable. The initial setup takes some time, but the instructions are clear and thorough. During my first dovetailing session, I managed to break one of the 1/4-20 clamping bolts and strip the threads out of one of the T-knobs on the jig. And, my first dovetails were misaligned by about 1/64". I called Hartville Tool's tech support line and they sent out replacements for the bolt and T-knob as well as a new set of edge guides to address the alignment problems. It took a couple of days for the new parts to arrive. In the mean time, I wanted to get back to dovetailing, so I made a trip to the nearest hardware store for a bolt and T-knob to get me back in business. The jig came with 1/4-20 x 1 3/4" bolts and 1" T-knobs. I replaced these parts with 1/4-2 x 2 1/2" bolts and 2" T-knobs. I haven't had any broken bolts or stripped threads since. And, after a little more practice, my alignment problems went away. I haven't used any of the replacement hardware from Hartville, but it was nice to see that they were so helpful and willing to stand behind their product. The only other drawback to this system is that there is no provision for cutting through dovetails. It allows half-blind dovetails only, but that's what most of us use on our drawer boxes anyway. The instrcutions for the jig suggest that you mount the jig to a bench or piece of plywood that can be clamped to a bench. I took this a step further. I mounted the jig on a piece of 3/4" plywood, then added a plywood 3/4"x3" rib to the bottom side. This allowed me to hold the jig firmly to the bench by means of my front vice. Its quicker and sturdier than clamping the jig to the edge of the bench and it keeps the clamping system out of your way.

When all is said and done, I would definitely recommend this jig to others who, like me, are looking for an inexpensive but accurate way to cut good quality dovetail joints. If you want to cut through dovetails, "randomly" spaced dovetails, and elaborate looking double-sliding dovetails, this is not the right jig. But, if you want to make lots of drawers in a hurry with very little fuss, it doesn't get any better than this. For those of you who want to dovetail monster drawers and blanket chests, Hart Designs also offers an 18" version of the dovetail machine. They also offer an upgrade to the clamping system (for around $20) that replaces the T-knobs with fast-action cam levers. I haven't invested in the upgrade yet, but it would speed up stock changes. The dovetail machine, templates, router bits, bushings, and the upgrade kit are all available at www.hartvilletool.com.

Hartville Catalog Photo	My GFK1200	Clamped in front vise
A better angle	My first dovetail	Even in CDX plywood